Memphis girls shine on 'Shark Tank'
People all of a sudden can't get enough "Frozen Hot Chocolate, "Lemonade Donuts" and "Watermelon Funk."
Three days after her daughters enchanted a national TV audience while making a pitch for their line of body lotions and sprays for preteens, Viara Boyd said Monday that business had roughly quadrupled. In addition to orders rising from about 500 to 2,000 units a day, congratulatory emails and messages are pouring in to the Memphis family from across the nation, she said.
"The orders are what's kicking our butt, but in a good way," said Boyd.
Ten-year-old Mallory and 12-year-old Madison Boyd, joined by their mother, appeared on an episode of "Shark Tank" that aired Friday night. In the show, in which budding entrepreneurs present ideas to panel of "sharks," or would-be investors, the girls danced and spoke while making a pitch for their company, Angels and Tomboys LLC.
"We believe that when you smell good, you feel good," Mallory told the panel. Madison told them the name reflects the sisters' identities -- she's the "angel," while Madison is the tomboy.
The girls' proposal to the sharks: $55,000 for a 20 percent stake in the company.
The family members got some tough questioning from the panel. Canadian investor and businessman Kevin O'Leary wondered why no other entrepreneur or business was marketing fragrances to 5- to 12-year-olds. "Maybe the reason they haven't done it is because there's no market," he said.
But by just about any measure, the pitch was successful. Two panelists, billionaire NBA team owner Mark Cuban and fashion and branding mogul Daymond John each agreed to front them $30,000 to buy a combined 33.3 percent stake. Another panelist, Lori Greiner, an entrepreneur known as the "queen" of home-shopping network QVC, praised the "genius" of their slogan ("All girls are created equally different.")
In the wake of the episode, which was taped in June, viewers have been contacting the Boyds to praise the idea and the innocence of their product. The family members have been working on their business since May 2014 and produce the 10 different scents, including favorites "Frozen Hot Chocolate" and "Lemonade Donuts," at their home.
"We blend and mix and then fill the bottles with it," Viara Boyd said.
But while she was busy fielding orders Monday, it was back to school for her daughters. Mallory is a fifth-grader at Downtown Elementary, and Madison is in the seventh grade at Bellevue Middle School.
"I have a feeling that school is going to be really crazy for them today," Viara Boyd said.